Roget's Thesaurus

Part 42

Chapter 42 3,509 words Public domain Markdown

#682. Activity.—N. activity; briskness, liveliness &c. adj.; animation, life, vivacity, spirit, dash, energy; snap, vim. nimbleness, agility; smartness, quickness &c. adj.; velocity, &c. 274; alacrity, promptitude; despatch, dispatch; expedition; haste &c. 684; punctuality &c. (early) 132. eagerness, zeal, ardor, perfervidum aingenium[Lat][obs3], empressement[Fr], earnestness, intentness; abandon; vigor &c. (physical energy) 171; devotion &c. (resolution) 604; exertion &c. 686. industry, assiduity; assiduousness &c. adj.; sedulity; laboriousness; drudgery &c. (labor) 686; painstaking, diligence; perseverance &c. 604a; indefatigation|; habits of business. vigilance &c. 459; wakefulness; sleeplessness, restlessness; insomnia; pervigilium[obs3], insomnium[obs3]; racketing. movement, bustle, stir, fuss, ado, bother, pottering, fidget, fidgetiness; flurry &c. (haste) 684. officiousness; dabbling, meddling; interference, interposition, intermeddling; tampering with, intrigue. press of business, no sinecure, plenty to do, many irons in the fire, great doings, busy hum of men, battle of life, thick of the action. housewife, busy bee; new brooms; sharp fellow, sharp blade; devotee, enthusiast, zealot, meddler, intermeddler, intriguer, busybody, pickthank[obs3]; hummer, hustler, live man [U.S.], rustler * [U. S.]. V. be active &c. adj.; busy oneself in; stir, stir about, stir one's stumps; bestir oneself, rouse oneself; speed, hasten, peg away, lay about one, bustle, fuss; raise up, kick up a dust; push; make a push, make a fuss, make a stir; go ahead, push forward; fight one's way, elbow one's way; make progress &c. 282; toll &c. (labor) 686; plod, persist &c. (persevere) 604a; keep up the ball, keep the pot boiling. look sharp; have all one's eyes about one &c. (vigilance) 459; rise, arouse oneself, hustle, get up early, be about, keep moving, steal a march, kill two birds with one stone; seize the opportunity &c. 134 lose no time, not lose a moment, make the most of one's time, not suffer the grass to grow under one's feet, improve the shining hour, make short work of; dash off; make haste &c. 684; do one's best take pains &c. (exert oneself) 686; do wonders, work wonders. have many irons in the fire, have one's hands full, have much on one's hands; have other things to do, have other fish to fry; be busy; not have a moment to spare, not have a moment that one can call one's own. have one's fling, run the round of; go all lengths, stick at nothing, run riot. outdo; overdo, overact, overlay, overshoot the mark; make a toil of a pleasure. have a hand in &c. (act in) 680; take an active part, put in one's oar, have a finger in the pie, mix oneself up with, trouble, one's head about, intrigue; agitate. tamper with, meddle, moil; intermeddle, interfere, interpose; obtrude; poke one's nose in, thrust one's nose in. Adj. active, brisk, brisk as a lark, brisk as a bee; lively, animated, vivacious; alive, alive and kicking; frisky, spirited, stirring. nimble, nimble as a squirrel; agile; light-footed, nimble-footed; featly[obs3], tripping. quick, prompt, yare[obs3], instant, ready, alert, spry, sharp, smart; fast &c. (swift) 274; quick as a lamplighter, expeditious; awake, broad awake; go-ahead, live wide-awake &c. (intelligent) 498[U.S.]. forward, eager, strenuous, zealous, enterprising, in earnest; resolute &c. 604. industrious, assiduous, diligent, sedulous, notable, painstaking; intent &c. (attention) 457; indefatigable &c. (persevering) 604a; unwearied; unsleeping[obs3], never tired; plodding, hard-working &c. 686; businesslike, workaday. bustling; restless, restless as a hyena; fussy, fidgety, pottering; busy, busy as hen with one chicken. working, at work, on duty, in harness; up in arms; on one's legs, at call; up and doing, up and stirring. busy, occupied; hard at work, hard at it; up to one's ears in, full of business, busy as a bee, busy as a one-armed paperhanger. meddling &c. v.; meddlesome, pushing, officious, overofficious[obs3], intrigant[obs3]. astir, stirring; agoing[obs3], afoot; on foot; in full swing; eventful; on the alert, &c. (vigilant) 459. Adv. actively &c. adj.; with life and spirit, with might and main &c. 686,with haste &c. 684, with wings; full tilt, in mediis rebus[Lat]. Int. be alive, look alive, look sharp! move on, push on! keep moving! go ahead! stir your stumps! age quod agis[Lat]! jaldi[obs3]! karo[obs3]! step lively! Phr. carpe diem &c. (opportunity) 134[Latin: seize the day]; nulla dies sine linea [Latin][Pliny]; nec mora nec requies [Latin][Vergil]; the plot thickens; No sooner said than done &c. (early) 132; "veni vidi vici" [Lat][Suetonius]; catch a weasel asleep; abends wird der Faule fleissig [obs3][German]; dictum ac factum [Lat][Terence]; schwere Arbeit in der Jugend ist sanfte Ruhe im Alter[German: hard work in youth means soft rest in age]; "the busy hum of men" [Milton].

#683. Inactivity.—N. inactivity; inaction &c. 681; inertness &c. 172; obstinacy &c. 606. lull &c. (cessation) 142; quiescence &c. 265; rust, rustiness. idleness, remissness &c. adj.; sloth, indolence, indiligence[obs3]; dawdling &c. v. ergophobia[obs3], otiosity[obs3]. dullness &c. adj.; languor; segnity|, segnitude|; lentor[obs3]; sluggishness &c. (slowness) 275; procrastination &c. (delay) 133; torpor, torpidity, torpescence[obs3]; stupor &c. (insensibility) 823; somnolence; drowsiness &c. adj.; nodding &c. v.; oscitation[obs3], oscitancy[obs3]; pandiculation[obs3], hypnotism, lethargy; statuvolence heaviness[obs3], heavy eyelids. sleep, slumber; sound sleep, heavy sleep, balmy sleep; Morpheus; Somnus; coma, trance, ecstasis[obs3], dream, hibernation, nap, doze, snooze, siesta, wink of sleep, forty winks, snore; hypnology[obs3]. dull work; pottering; relaxation &c. (loosening) 47; Castle of Indolence. [Cause of inactivity] lullaby, sedative, tranquilizer, hypnotic, sleeping pill, relaxant, anaesthetic, general anaesthetic &c. 174; torpedo. [person who is inactive] idler, drone, droil[obs3], dawdle, mopus[obs3]; do-little faineant[Fr], dummy, sleeping partner; afternoon farmer; truant &c. (runaway) 623: bummer|!, loafer, goldbrick, goldbicker, lounger, lazzarone[It]; lubber, lubbard[obs3]; slow coach &c. (slow.) 275; opium eater, lotus eater; slug; lag|!, sluggard, slugabed; slumberer, dormouse, marmot; waiter on Providence, fruges consumere natus[Lat]. V. be inactive &c. adj.; do nothing &c. 681; move slowly &c. 275; let the grass grow under one's feet; take one's time, dawdle, drawl, droil[obs3], lag, hang back, slouch; loll, lollop[obs3]; lounge, poke, loaf, loiter; go to sleep over; sleep at one's post, ne battre que d'une aile[Fr][obs3]. take it easy, take things as they come; lead an easy life, vegetate, swim with the stream, eat the bread of idleness; loll in the lap of luxury, loll in the lap of indolence; waste time, consume time, kill time, lose time; burn daylight, waste the precious hours. idle away time, trifle away time, fritter away time, fool away time; spend time in, take time in; peddle, piddle; potter, pudder[obs3], dabble, faddle fribble[obs3], fiddle-faddle; dally, dilly-dally. sleep, slumber, be asleep; hibernate; oversleep; sleep like a top, sleep like a log, sleep like a dormouse; sleep soundly, heavily; doze, drowze[obs3], snooze, nap; take a nap &c. n.; dream; snore one's best; settle to sleep, go to sleep, go off to sleep; doze off, drop off; fall asleep; drop asleep; close the eyes, seal up the eyes, seal up eyelids; weigh down the eyelids; get sleep, nod, yawn; go to bed, turn; get some z's, stack z's [coll.]. languish, expend itself, flag, hang fire; relax. render idle &c. adj.; sluggardize[obs3]; mitigate &c. 174. Adj. inactive; motionless &c. 265; unoccupied &c. (doing nothing) 681 unbusied[obs3]. indolent, lazy, slothful, idle, lusk[obs3], remiss, slack, inert, torpid, sluggish, otiose, languid, supine, heavy, dull, leaden, lumpish[obs3]; exanimate[obs3], soulless; listless; drony[obs3], dronish[obs3]; lazy as Ludlam's dog. dilatory, laggard; lagging &c. v.; slow &c. 275; rusty, flagging; lackadaisical, maudlin, fiddle-faddle; pottering &c. v.;shilly-shally &c. (irresolute) 605. sleeping, &c. v.; asleep; fast asleep, dead asleep, sound asleep; in a sound sleep; sound as a top, dormant, comatose; in the arms of Morpheus, in the lap of Morpheus. sleepy, sleepful[obs3]; dozy[obs3], drowsy, somnolent, torpescent[obs3], lethargic, lethargical[obs3]; somnifacient[obs3]; statuvolent[obs3], statuvolic[obs3]; heavy, heavy with sleep; napping; somnific[obs3], somniferous; soporous[obs3], soporific, soporiferous[obs3]; hypnotic; balmy, dreamy; unawakened, unawakened. sedative &c. 174. Adv. inactively &c. adj.; at leisure &c. 685. Phr. the eyes begin to draw straws; "bankrupt of life yet prodigal of ease" [Dryden]; "better 50 years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay" [Tennyson]; "idly busy rolls their world away" [Goldsmith]; "the mystery of folded sleep" [Tennyson]; "the timely dew of sleep" [Milton]; "thou driftest gently down the tides of sleep" [Longfellow]; "tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep" [Young].

#684. Haste.—N. haste, urgency; despatch, dispatch; acceleration, spurt, spirt[obs3], forced march, rush, dash; speed, velocity &c. 274; precipitancy, precipitation, precipitousness &c. adj.; impetuosity; brusquerie[obs3]; hurry, drive, scramble, bustle, fuss, fidget, flurry, flutter, splutter. V. haste, hasten; make haste, make a dash &c. n.; hurry on, dash on, whip on, push on, press on, press forward; hurry, skurry[obs3], scuttle along, barrel along, bundle on, dart to and fro, bustle, flutter, scramble; plunge, plunge headlong; dash off; rush &c. (violence) 173; express. bestir oneself &c. (be active) 682; lose no time, lose not a moment, lose not an instant; make short work of; make the best of one's time, make the best of one's way. be precipitate &c. adj.; jump at, be in haste, be in a hurry &c. n.; have no time, have not a moment to lose, have not a moment to spare; work against time. quicken &c. 274; accelerate, expedite, put on, precipitate, urge, whip; railroad. Adj. hasty, hurried, brusque; scrambling, cursory, precipitate, headlong, furious, boisterous, impetuous, hotheaded; feverish, fussy; pushing. in haste, in a hurry &c. n.; in hot haste, in all haste; breathless, pressed for time, hard pressed, urgent. Adv. with haste, with all haste, with breathless speed; in haste &c. adj.; apace &c. (swiftly) 274; amain[obs3]; all at once &c. (instantaneously) 113; at short notice &c., immediately &c. (early) 132; posthaste; by cable, by express, by telegraph, by forced marches. hastily, precipitately &c. adj.; helter-skelter, hurry-skurry[obs3], holus-bolus; slapdash, slap-bang; full-tilt, full drive; heels over head, head and shoulders, headlong, a corps perdu[Fr]. by fits and starts, by spurts; hop skip and jump. Phr. sauve qui peut[French: every man for himself][panic], devil take the hindmost, no time to be lost; no sooner said than done &c. (early) 132; a word and a blow; haste makes waste, maggiore fretta minore atto [Italian]; ohne Hast aber ohne Rast [German][Goethe's motto]; "stand not upon the order of your going but go at once" [Macbeth]; "swift, swift, you dragons of the night" [Cymbeline].

#685. Leisure.—N. leisure; convenience; spare time, spare hours, # spare moments; vacant hour; time, time to spare, time on one's hands; holiday, relaxation &c. (rest) 687; otium cum dignitate [Lat][obs3][Cic.], ease. no hurry; no big rush; no deadline. V. have leisure &c. n.; take one's time, take one's leisure, take one's ease; repose &c. 687; move slowly &c. 275; while away the time &c. (inaction) 681; be master of one's time, be an idle man. Adj. leisure, leisurely; slow &c. 275; deliberate, quiet, calm, undisturbed; at leisure, at one's ease, at loose ends, at a loose end. Adv. unhurriedly, deliberately, without undue haste; anytime. Phr. time hanging heavy on one's hands; eile mit Weile[Ger].

#686. Exertion.—N. exertion, effort, strain, tug, pull, stress, throw, stretch, struggle, spell, spurt, spirt[obs3]; stroke of work, stitch of work. "a strong pull a long pull and a pull all together"; dead lift; heft; gymnastics; exercise, exercitation[obs3]; wear and tear; ado; toil and trouble; uphill work, hard work, warm work; harvest time. labor, work, toil, travail, manual labor, sweat of one's brow, swink[obs3], drudgery, slavery, fagging[obs3], hammering; limae labor[Lat]; industry, industriousness, operoseness[obs3], operosity[obs3]. trouble, pains, duty; resolution &c. 604; energy &c. (physical) 171. V. exert oneself; exert one's energies, tax one's energies; use exertion. labor, work, toil, moil, sweat, fag, drudge, slave, drag a lengthened chain, wade through, strive, stretch a long arm; pull, tug, ply; ply the oar, tug at the oar; do the work; take the laboring oar bestir oneself (be active) 682; take trouble, trouble oneself. work hard; rough it; put forth one's strength, put forth a strong arm; fall to work, bend the bow; buckle to, set one's shoulder to the wheel &c. (resolution) 604; work like a horse, work like a cart horse, work like a galley slave, work like a coal heaver; labor day and night, work day and night; redouble one's efforts; do double duty; work double hours, work double tides; sit up, burn the candle at both ends; stick to &c. (persevere) 604a; work one's way, fight one's way; lay about one, hammer at. take pains; do one's best, do one's level best, do one's utmost; give one hundred percent, do the best one can, do all one can, do all in one's power, do as much as in one lies, do what lies in one's power; use one's best endeavor, use one's utmost endeavor; try one's best, try one's utmost; play one's best card; put one's best leg foremost, put one's right leg foremost; have one's whole soul in his work, put all one's strength into, strain every nerve; spare no efforts, spare no pains; go all lengths; go through fire and water &c. (resolution) 604; move heaven and earth, leave no stone unturned. Adj. laboring &c. v. laborious, operose[obs3], elaborate; strained; toilsome, troublesome, wearisome; uphill; herculean, gymnastic, palestric[obs3]. hard-working, painstaking; strenuous, energetic. hard at work, on the stretch. Adv. laboriously &c. adj.; lustily; pugnis et calcibus[Lat]; with might and main, with all one's might, with a strong hand, with a sledge hammer, with much ado; to the best of one's abilities, totis viribus[Lat], vi et armis[Lat], manibus pedibusque[Lat], tooth and nail, unguibus et rostro[Lat], hammer and tongs, heart and soul; through thick and thin &c. (perseverance) 604a. by the sweat of one's brow, suo Marte. Phr. aide-toi le ciel t'aidera[Fr]; "and still be doing, never done" [Butler]; buen principio la mitad es hecha [Sp]; cosa ben fatta e' fatta due volie [It];"it is better to wear out than to rust out" [Bp. Hornel]; labor omnia vincit "labor, wide as the earth, has its summit in Heaven" [Lat][Vergil][Carlyle]; le travail du corps delivre des peines de l'esprit [Fr][fr]; manu forti[Lat]; ora et labora[Lat].

#687. Repose.—N. repose, rest, silken repose; sleep &c. 683. # relaxation, breathing time; halt, stay, pause &c. (cessation) 142; respite. day of rest, dies non, Sabbath, Lord's day, holiday, red-letter day, vacation, recess. V. repose; rest, rest and be thankful; take a rest, take one's ease, take it easy. relax, unbend, slacken; take breath &c. (refresh) 689; rest upon one's oars; pause &c. (cease) 142; stay one's hand. lie down; recline, recline on a bed of down, recline on an easy chair; go to rest, go to bed, go to sleep &c. 683. take a holiday, shut up shop; lie fallow &c. (inaction) 681. Adj. reposing &c. v[of people].; relaxed &c. v.; unstrained. [of materials and people] unstressed. Adv. at rest. Phr."the best of men have ever loved repose" [Thompson]; "to repair our nature with comforting repose" [Henry VIII].

#688. Fatigue.—N. fatigue; weariness &c. 841; yawning, drowsiness &c. 683; lassitude, tiredness, fatigation|, exhaustion; sweat; dyspnoea. anhelation, shortness of breath; faintness; collapse, prostration, swoon, fainting, deliquium[Lat], syncope, lipothymy[obs3]; goneness[obs3]. V. be fatigued &c. adj.; yawn &c. (get sleepy) 683; droop, sink, flag; lose breath, lose wind; gasp, pant, puff, blow, drop, swoon, faint, succumb. fatigue, tire, weary, irk, flag, jade, harass, exhaust, knock up, wear out, prostrate. tax, task, strain; overtask, overwork, overburden, overtax, overstrain. Adj. fatigued, tired &c. v.; weary &c. 841; drowsy &c. 683; drooping &c. v.; haggard; toilworn[obs3], wayworn; footsore, surbated|, weather- beaten; faint; done up, used up, knocked up; bushed * [U.S.]; exhausted, prostrate, spent; overtired, overspent, overfatigued; unrefreshed[obs3], unrestored. worn, worn out; battered, shattered, pulled down, seedy, altered. breathless, windless; short of breath, out of breath, short of wind; blown, puffing and blowing; short-breathed; anhelose[obs3]; broken winded, short-winded; dyspnaeal[obs3], dyspnaeic[obs3]. ready to drop, all in, more dead than alive, dog-weary, walked off one's legs, tired to death, on one's last legs, played out, hors de combat[Fr]. fatiguing &c v.; tiresome, irksome, wearisome; weary, trying.

#689. Refreshment.—N. bracing &c. v.; recovery of strength, recuperation &c. 159; restoration, revival &c. 660; repair, refection, refocillation|, refreshment, regalement[obs3], bait; relief &c. 834. break, spell. refreshment stand; refreshments; ice cream[list], cold soda, soda pop, hot dogs (food). V. brace &c. (strengthen) 159; reinvigorate; air, freshen up, refresh, recruit; repair &c. (restore) 660; fan, refocillate|; refresh the inner man. breathe, respire; drink in the ozone; take a break, take a breather, take five, draw breath, take a deep breath, take breath, gather breath, take a long breath, regain breath, recover breath; get better, raise one's head; recover one's strength, regain one's strength, renew one's strength &c. 159; perk up, get one's second wind. come to oneself &c. (revive) 660; feel refreshed, feel like a giant refreshed. Adj. refreshing &c v.; recuperative &c. 660. refreshed &c. v.; untired[obs3], unwearied.

#690. Agent.—N. doer, actor, agent, performer, perpetrator, operator; executor, executrix; practitioner, worker, stager. bee, ant, working bee, termite, white ant; laboring oar, servant of all work, factotum. workman, artisan; craftsman, handicraftsman; mechanic, operative; working man; laboring man; demiurgus, hewers of wood and drawers of water, laborer, navvy[obs3]; hand, man, day laborer, journeyman, charwoman, hack; mere tool &c. 633; beast of burden, drudge, fag; lumper[obs3], roustabout. maker, artificer, artist, wright, manufacturer, architect, builder, mason, bricklayer, smith, forger, Vulcan; carpenter; ganger, platelayer; blacksmith, locksmith, sailmaker, wheelwright. machinist, mechanician, engineer. sempstress[obs3], semstress[obs3], seamstress; needlewoman[obs3], workwoman; tailor, cordwainer[obs3]. minister &c. (instrument) 631; servant &c. 746; representative &c. (commissioner) 758, (deputy) 759. coworker, party to, participator in, particeps criminis[Lat], dramatis personae[Lat]; personnel. Phr. quorum pars magna fui [Lat][Vergil]; faber est quisque fortunae suae [Lat].

#691. Workshop.—N. workshop, workhouse, workplace, shop, place of business; manufactory, mill, plant, works, factory; cabinet, studio; office, branch office bureau, atelier. hive[specific types of workplace: list], hive of industry; nursery; hothouse, hotbed; kitchen; mint, forge, loom; dock, dockyard; alveary[obs3]; armory; laboratory, lab, research institute; refinery; cannery; power plant; beauty parlor; beehive, bindery, forcing pit, nailery[obs3], usine[obs3], slip, yard, wharf; foundry, foundery[obs3]; furnace; vineyard. crucible, alembic, caldron, matrix. Adj. at work, at the office, at the shop; working.

2. Complex Voluntary Action

#692. Conduct.—N. conduct[actions of an individual agent]; behavior; deportment, comportment; carriage, maintien[obs3], demeanor, guise, bearing, manner, observance. dealing, transaction &c. (action) 680; business &c. 625. tactics, game, game plan, policy, polity; generalship, statesmanship, seamanship; strategy, strategics[obs3]; plan &c. 626. management; husbandry; housekeeping, housewifery; stewardship; menage; regime; economy, economics; political economy; government &c. (direction) 693. execution, manipulation, treatment, campaign, career, life, course, walk, race, record. course of conduct, line of conduct, line of action, line of proceeding; role; process, ways, practice, procedure, modus operandi, MO, method of operating; method &c., path &c. 627. V. transact[cause to occur], execute; despatch, dispatch; proceed with, discharge; carry on, carry through, carry out, carry into effect, put into effect; work out; go through, get through; enact; put into practice; do &c. 680; officiate &c. 625. bear oneself, behave oneself, comport oneself, demean oneself, carry oneself, conduct oneself, acquit oneself. run a race, lead a life, play a game; take a course, adopt a course; steer one's course, shape one's course; play one's paint, play one's cards, shift for oneself; paddle one's own canoe; bail one's own boat. conduct; manage, supervise &c. (direct) 693. participate &c. 680. deal with, have to do with; treat, handle a case; take steps, take measures. Adj. conducting &c. v. strategical, businesslike, practical, executive.

#693. Direction.—N. direction; management, managery[obs3]; government, gubernation[obs3], conduct, legislation, regulation, guidance; bossism [U.S.]; legislature; steerage, pilotage; reins, reins of government; helm, rudder, needle, compass; guiding star, load star, lode star, pole star; cynosure. supervision, superintendence; surveillance, oversight; eye of the master; control, charge; board of control &c. (council) 696; command &c. (authority) 737. premiership, senatorship; director &c. 694; chair, portfolio. statesmanship; statecraft, kingcraft[obs3], queencraft[obs3]. ministry, ministration; administration; stewardship, proctorship[obs3]; agency. [person who directs] director &c. 694. V. direct, manage, govern, conduct; order, prescribe, cut out work for; bead, lead; lead the way, show the way; take the lead, lead on; regulate, guide, steer, pilot; tackle [intransitive] take the helm, be at the helm; have the reins, handle the reins, hold the reins, take the reins; drive, tool. superintend, supervise; overlook, control, keep in order, look after, see to, legislate for; administer, ministrate[obs3]; matronize[obs3]; have the care of, have the charge of; be in charge of, have charge of, take the direction; boss, boss one around; pull the strings, pull the wires; rule &c. (command) 737; have the direction, hold office, hold the portfolio; preside, preside at the board; take the chair, occupy the chair, be in the chair; pull the stroke oar. Adj. directing &c. v.; hegemonic. Adv. at the helm, at the head of.